The incident which took place on the ninth floor of Sir George Williams University, Canada, in February 1969 still carries mixed emotions among Trinidadians. For some, it was an event which should not be mentioned, or at least discussed as quickly in the same breath as it was raised. For others, it was an event that represented a time of resistance. For others, it was just an event that occurred without knowing or understanding the underlying tensions that existed. This was a generation of Caribbean people who seemed to have been swept under the rug.

The event is a sensitive one. A riot took place after six Caribbean students, among them Trinidadians, protested against institutional racism. The students believe their failure at a computer exam was as the result of prejudiced lecturer. Their protest snowballed into two weeks of chaos and violence, with riot police storming the occupied ninth floor, and a storm of computer cards came raining down onto the streets below.

Now it has become a film, titled Ninth Floor. Film producer Selwyn Jacob, a Trindadian who resides in Canada, felt the need to tell the story, linking the sequence of events. As a result, he presents different perspectives on what took place. The film was meant to be an opportunity to seek clarification as to what really happened on that fateful day.

The irony is Jacob was in Canada when the incident happened. He was a student but he was not aware or involved in the happenings at that time.

The award-winning film Ninth Floor, a documentary produced by Trinidadian-born, Canada-based,  Selwyn Jacob, will make its cinematic return to Trinidad this Thursday at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine. The free screening is presented by the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) in partnership with the Department of Cultural Studies, UWI.

Described as addressing, “the most dramatic and violent racial conflict in modern Canadian history” by povmagazine.com, Ninth Floor examines the Sir George Williams University riot of February 1969, when six Caribbean students mounted a protest against institutional racism. It would snowball into 14 days of chaos and violence, with riot police storming the occupied ninth floor, and a storm of computer cards raining down onto the streets below.

The film–which uses never-before-seen footage of the students’ protest and occupation of the ninth floor computer room as well as interviews with several of the students involved–was chosen as one of Canada’s top ten films by the the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)  in 2016.

Directed by independent filmmaker Mina Shum, Ninth Floor screens Thursday 20 July, 5:30PM at the Centre for Language Learning (CLL), The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine.  It is rated 14+.

The Cultural Studies Section of the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies (LCCS) hosts Film Night with a screening of the documentary Ninth Floor followed by a Q&A session with its TT-born, Canada based producer Selwyn Jacob.

The screening and discussion takes place July 20 from 5.30 to 7.30pm at the Centre for Language Learning (CLL) Auditorium.

About the Film

The film, the Ninth Floor viewing is being conducted in conjunction with trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff). The film is produced by Trinidadian Selwyn Jacob who lives in Canada and details the events that occurred at the Sir George Williams University in February 1969, when six Caribbean students mounted a protest against institutional racism. The event is often thought to be the precursor to Black Power revolution in the US and Caribbean.

SELWYN JACOB, then ten or 11, sat in the theatre and saw what he did not want to see on the screen. It is knowing what he did not want to see, which led him to changing the narratives of immigrants and black-Canadians.
The Trinidadian- born, award-winning Canadian documentary film-maker’s work with Mina Shum on The Ninth Floor has changed how the world viewed the six Caribbean students who mounted a protest against institutional racism at the Sir George Williams University, Canada, in the late 1960s.

Jacob produced the film and reframed the perspective surrounding the events which led to Caribbean students, Trinidadians among them, being deported from Canada and damage to the university’s computer centre.

But if Jacob’s story is known, one would know that he has always sought to change perceptions.

In telling Newsday how he got into film-making, Jacob said: “I think it must have been when I was about ten or 11. I remember going to a movie theatre in Trinidad and I saw the movies of the day. As a matter of fact, they gave charitable showings like Joan of Arc and the teachers would take the entire school out. On Saturdays there were matinees and some of the schools would go. I must have seen one of the pictures and I looked at the movie and I looked at how the Africans were depicted in those movies. They looked to me as though they were silly. They came across as a caricature…I kept thinking if I were making a movie and setting it in Trinidad and they [would] see people the way that I would [see them], not behaving like buffoons.

The award-winning film Ninth Floor, a documentary produced by TT-born, Canada-based,  Selwyn Jacob, will make its cinematic return to Trinidad this July at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine. The free screening is presented by the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) in partnership with the Department of Cultural Studies, UWI.

Described as addressing “the most dramatic and violent racial conflict in modern Canadian history” by povmagazine.com, Ninth Floor examines the Sir George Williams University riot of February 1969, when six Caribbean students mounted a protest against institutional racism. It would snowball into 14-days of chaos and violence, with riot police storming the occupied ninth floor, and a storm of computer cards raining down onto the streets below.

The film – which uses never-before-seen footage of the students’ protest and occupation of the ninth floor computer room, as well as interviews with several of the students involved – was chosen as one of Canada’s top ten films by the the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)  in 2016.